Breach of Contract
by Momma2Leos
Summary: Dean's time is almost up and they have not been able to find a way to get him out of his deal. When Danae (OC) finds out about the deal, she takes matters into her own hands in order to save the man she loves. What consequences will this set into effect? Rated M for language, sexual situations, and possible triggers. Reviews are love.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own any of the SPN characters or storylines. I am just obsessed and wanted to take them out to play.

Synopsis: Dean's time is almost up. What if someone else wanted to rescue him?

Trigger warning: Implied Suicide, sexual situations

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Danae entered the Singer household about 3 a.m. She knew that Bobby, the man who had helped her dad raise her after her mom died of cancer, would more than likely be asleep. She had seen the familiar '67 Impala parked outside and looked forward to seeing the Winchester boys, but not until she had gotten a couple hours of sleep.

She quietly opened the door, remembering to lift it up an inch so that the hinges didn't squeak. She did not relish the idea of meeting Bobby's Benelli instead of his smile. So she eased the door shut and locked it back before tiptoeing around the living room.

She could see that Bobby was passed out on the couch, his television playing the National Anthem with the flag background. She didn't turn it off. If anything will wake up the old cuss it's complete silence. She did, however, slide the old afghan on the back of the couch down and cover up Bobby's sleeping form.

As the blanket came down she heard Bobby begin to mumble.

 _Damn idjit, a year? What the hell, Dean?_

She laughed inwardly. Dean was always doing something. Bobby had raised the two of those boys just as much as he had her. She was about to leave the living room when he muttered again.

 _It's your soul boy. You only get the one._

This caught her attention. So she sat down and though she felt bad, listened to the man talk in his sleep.

It was several minutes before he did it again. This time he was crying.

 _Hell. Dean. You can't go to Hell._

What had that idiot done?

She walked up the stairs to the rooms that she knew Sam and Dean slept in when they came in. The second door on the right was always the one that Dean slept in. It was closest to the bathroom and he liked beating his brother to it in the morning.

She eased the door opened and took off her shoes. She could see Dean's sleeping form laid across the bed. His one arm was thrown up above his head and the other holding the blanket mostly up his chest.

Danae quietly walked across the room and crawled into bed with Dean, like she had done a thousand times before. She lay close to him and put her head on his chest. He turned his head but did not wake up, and he smelled her hair.

"Hmm, Danae?" he asked groggily.

"Go back to sleep, Dean," she said as she settled in to go to sleep putting Bobby's words in reserve for the next day.

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"Mmmm," he replied as he kissed her forehead and sank back to sleep.

"This is my second favorite way to wake up," he says as Danae's eyes fluttered open.

"Oh yeah? What's your favorite?" she asked still sleepy. His eyes twinkled as he turned up on his side and lowered his face to hers.

His mouth grazed her lips as he waited for her to come to. It didn't take her long to catch on and soon she was pulling him closer, her hand on the back of his head. This was their habit. See each other, make out for a while and then go back to the good friends' relationship they nursed between long absences.

"When did you get in?" he asked breaking the kiss to breathe but quickly returning to placing small kisses on her neck and chin.

She smiled. "You want me to talk or you want to keep kissing me?" she asked. He stopped and looked down at her as if he were thinking about it. A second later his mind was made up and he swooped down to capture her lips with his own again.

She was getting swept into her emotions when Bobby's voice boomed from downstairs and saved the day.

"If you want breakfast you better get up from those beds," he called up.

They knew that he knew they were together. And while they were both adults, Bobby treated them more like his kids than fellow hunters.

The stood up and Dean left to get changed in the bathroom so Danae could have the room.

A few moments later she headed downstairs where Sam and Dean were already tucking into bacon and eggs and Bobby was leaned up against the counter waiting for her.

"Danny girl, when did you get in? I didn't even hear you," he said as he pulled her in for a hug.

"Hey, Bobby. I'm sorry, it was late. You were asleep on the couch," she said hugging him back and suddenly remembering what had occurred as he dreamt.

They ate and caught up but Danae knew that if she was going to get any answers she would have to ask Bobby alone.

"So, Bobby, I could use some help on my truck if you have the time. I sort of messed it up on my last hunt."

"When you say sort of messed it up, what do you mean?" the older man asked.

"Well, I was being chased by something, which I later figured out was a baby vamp. I jumped in the truck because I didn't hear him come up on me. And then he just kept coming after I tried to get away so I hit the brakes and threw him off…."

"Go on," he coaxed her.

"And I sort of ran over him, a couple of times. Don't worry, I got out and ganked that SOB but now my truck is making some clicking sound when I turn the steering wheel," she said.

"Sounds like the universal joints," Dean said. "I can help if you want," he said and smiled at me with a raised eyebrow.

She knew that if they went out alone together, the last thing that would be getting looked at would be her truck.

"No, you idgit. She needs her truck fixed, not her libido," Bobby replied refilling his coffee cup.

Both Danae and Dean blushed to know they had been caught. Sam rolled his eyes. It wasn't like everyone didn't know.

"Neither one of you is as smart as you think. You got a fresh hickey there Danny girl," he said taking another long drink.

She subconsciously rubbed her hand along her neck just now feeling the slight bump in the skin and she shot Dean an embarrassed look. He mouthed the word _sorry_ to her and went back to his food.

"We actually need to do a little research ourselves today. We still need to track down whoever Bela sold that gun too. If we got the Colt, it's our best chance," Sam said.

"The Colt? Like the one Samuel Colt made? Hot damn, what are you guys gonna kill with that?" she asked.

The brothers exchanged glances and she couldn't help but notice Dean's glare at his brother, a silent shut up and the subsequent look he gave back.

She decided not to touch the topic but looked back up at Bobby who was shaking his head and looking at anything but the two of them. It was all so suspicious.

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"Yeah, you screwed the hell out of these Universal joints. I should be able to find some out here in this mess though," he said as he rolled from under the old pickup truck.

"Good. I love this piece of junk," she said as she helped him to his feet.

"No time like the present, let's take a walk," he said.

They walked and chatted about her recent hunts and life in general. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and decided to ask.

"Bobby, can I ask you a question?"

"Well sure," he replied, " what's up?"

"Okay. Last night when I got in, you were asleep on the couch. I covered you up and started to go upstairs when you started talking in your sleep," she said.

His eyes got a little wider as he tried to remember what he was dreaming about and praying she hadn't heard anything she shouldn't have.

"Well, I'm old and I was a little drunk, so…" he said nervously.

"No, I'm not picking. I do it too. It's what you said," she kept going.

He stopped and turned to her and waited.

"You were talking about Dean… and his soul," she said.

He blew out a breath he didn't know he was holding and looked at the girl.

"Is that all you heard?" he asked.

"Well that and something about a year?" she said. "I'm not trying to be nosy, but I mean, it's Dean," she finished.

He took the girl by the shoulders and looked at her sweetly.

"Danae, you know I love you like you was my own flesh and blood. Honey, you got to stop pining over that boy," he said in a fatherly tone.

"It's not pining Bobby. I know that we are just friends," she said.

"Friends don't let friends give them hickeys," Bobby replied.

She rolled her eyes at him and took his arm as they walked.

"Seriously Bobby, were you just having a nightmare or did he do something stupid?"

"Well, you know Dean," he said. She waited.

"It really isn't my place to tell you what happened," he continued. "He… well, you know how he is about Sam. He couldn't let his brother die," he said and stopped.

That opened a few more doors and before long, Bobby found himself damn near weeping while sitting on the tailgate of a truck surrounded in weeds telling Danae the whole tale.

"You can't tell them that you know. They would never forgive me for telling you," he said.

"They won't ever know that you told me. I can't believe he would do something so stupid," she said struggling to keep the tears out of her voice. She didn't want to upset Bobby anymore than she already had.

"How much time does he have left?" she asked timidly.

Bobby looked down at his watch for the date.

"A little over a week. They have been running in circles trying to figure out how to get to this demon Lilith to break the contract but so far nothing. That's why they need the Colt, but if I know Bela Talbot and I do, well did, then that gun is long gone," he said.

Danae could feel the panic attack start and she swayed a little bit. This man she adored, this brave, beautiful and stupid man was going to die in a week and go to Hell. Bobby caught her before she hit the ground.

"Danny girl, you got to calm down. You breathe, do you hear me?" he said frantically.

She tried, she hit her knees and took air in through her nose and out of her mouth. It took several minutes but she was able to calm down enough to stand up.

"Okay. I won't tell Bobby" she said, a great sadness and resolve sweeping over her.

They found a truck and marked it to come back to get the part they needed later and started walking back to the house.

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"I'm going to cook for you tonight," she said.

He had spent the day sick with worry for the girl that was busying herself cleaning the house as if she was going to perform surgery in the front room. He knew that this was what she did when she was nervous or she just needed to think. He didn't blame her and even tried to help by moving furniture when she asked or fetching clothes hangers.

"You don't have to do that Danny girl," he said. "Plenty of leftovers in there," he said.

She gave him a look that begged him to let her do what she needed to do and he nodded.

So when the boys finally dragged in from a day in town at the library, the house looked like it belonged in a magazine and the smell of homemade spaghetti sauce drifted through it like a beacon.

"Oh my God," Dean exclaimed when they walked in.

Sam's eyes had lit up like Christmas as they walked into the kitchen. Danae was just pulling garlic bread out of the oven as well as a homemade apple pie.

They looked at the spread on the table, the fresh salad, the pot of steaming sauce, a bowl of pasta that would have easily fed more and Danae running around like she owned the place.

"Okay, yes, I will marry you Danae," Dean said as he walked up and pulled her in for a hug.

She laughed as he spun her out. "Oh Dean Winchester, you know you could never settle down. But you can sit down. I cooked all this food, and now you guys have to eat it all."

"Challenge accepted," Dean said as they all pulled out chairs. They had a wonderful conversation around the table like a family. Bobby waited for the shoe to drop but Danae was a pro and kept the conversation steered away from anything Hell related.

After dinner, they shared the pie with Dean taking the lion's share before they went into the front room and watched movies together until they were all exhausted.

She and Dean went up to his room and laid in bed talking and flirting. He started asking her stupid, random questions that he was making up off the top of his head as he fought being dragged under into sleep.

He laid his head on her shoulder and pulled her in close and was soon knocked out.

Danae lay there for a while, stroking his face and his hair. It would always be their secret that he loved when this was done for him. He wasn't always tough and it was easy for her to draw out the man she had carried a torch for years.

When she was sure that he wouldn't wake up, she gently extracted herself from him and tiptoed out of the room. She had stashed her clothes in a hall closet when she cleaned and she dressed as silently as she could grabbing her bag and a flashlight on the way.

She didn't dare take a car since the noise was likely to wake the three hunters left sleeping in the house. But she knew that she didn't have far to go to get to her destination.

About two miles up the dirt road that led away from Bobby Singer's yard, she stopped at the old crossroads. The remains of the dilapidated post office were outlined by the light of the full moon.

She pulled the box out of her bag and made sure that all of the ingredients were in place before she stood at the center and dug a hole burying the box. Then she stood and waited.

It wasn't long before a handsome black man greeted her.

"Danae Caraway, what a pleasant surprise," he spoke before turning his chocolate brown eyes into a hideous shade of red.

" I want to make a deal," she said without preamble.

"Well of course you do, my dear, why else would you have summoned me?" he said with a slick smile.

"So what is it that you want, sweetie?"

"I want to buy Dean Winchester's contract. I want to switch places," she said.

He took a long look at her before he laughed loud and hard.

"Oh, you're serious? Honey, I can't make that deal. My boss…" he began.

"If you can't do it, then get your boss," she said.

"Danae, I can literally give you anything in the world. Dean Winchester knew what he was doing when he made his deal. My hands are tied," he said.

"I want to speak to Lilith," she said. The demon's eyes widened that this human would dare to ask for Lilith.

"That is impossible," he said fear lacing into his words.

"Please. You were human once. You can remember what it was like to love someone," she said as the tears started to flow down her cheeks.

The demon found himself in an awful predicament. How was this human making him look into the past and feel things he hadn't in hundreds of years?

"Mazgonan, I will take it from here," they heard a small voice say.

The demon did not have to be told twice and with a snap of his fingers, he popped away.

The child was lovely, like something from a painting.

"Are you Lillith?" Danae asked, shaking.

"I am," the little girl replied.

"I will beg if you want me to. Please release Dean and allow me to take his place," she said as she lowered herself to her knees.

"Why? Why would you give up your life for a man like this?" the girl pressed.

"Because I love him," she replied with downcast eyes.

The ancient demon placed her hand on her chest, a feeling spreading that she had not felt in millennia.

"What are you?" she asked Danae as she cupped a small hand under her chin and lifted the gaze to her own.

"I'm a hunter...I'm," she started.

"No, there's something more there. You are doing something to me," Lillith said.

"Dean has just about a week left. Are you so ready to stop living in a week?" she prompted.

"For him, yes," she said. Lilith looked deeply into Danae's eyes and read her memories. She saw a young Dean and Danae playing with Sam, running around the cars in Bobby's lot. She saw Danae crying from Bobby's porch as the boys rode off with their father. She saw Dean put his arm around her shoulder as they stood in front of a burial pyre that held her father. She saw them sharing loving little moments when they thought they were alone.

"He doesn't love you in the same way that you love him," Lilith said.

"No, I know that," Danae replied.

Lilith thought and then smiled to herself. She knew that Dean Winchester was scared. The hallucinations must have begun already. But she thought that the ultimate hurt could be gained in this new deal.

"I will allow it on two conditions. First of all, you can not tell him that the deal has been made. And secondly, you get only three days," she said.

Danae took in a sharp breath but knew that she could make it for three days.

"I won't even send the hounds if you will come peaceably. Do we have a deal?" she asked.

"Yes," Danae replied. She leaned up on her knees bringing her face to the face with the child who was not a child and pressed her lips against Lillith's in the briefest of touches. To the unknowing eye, it could be a mother and child or two sisters.

She could feel the moment the deal became binding. She closed her eyes and sat back knowing she was now alone.

When she opened her eyes, she was standing outside of Bobby's house and she assumed the demon had popped her back there. She quietly entered the house and went upstairs to get back in bed with Dean.

When she looked at the clock on the nightstand, the time showed that only three minutes had passed since she had left the room though she knew it had been hours. Another gift from Lilith.

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The mood in the morning was good. The whole house was in a state of fake calm.

Dean tried to pretend that he wasn't looking at a giant countdown on his head, Sam and Bobby followed suit.

Danae tried to pretend that she knew nothing about anything.

The sat around the table eating fried spaghetti from the night before when Sam broke the silence.

"I found the Colt, guys," he said but with sadness coating his words.

"Where is it?" Dean asked leaning forward hopefully.

"Historian and philanthropist Gene Mizzanti purchased the Colt pistol for just under 5 million dollars from a second-hand source. The gun, a weapon of ancient lore, is said to hold an important key to the occult. The gun will be on display beginning next month in a European traveling museum of the American West. It is currently being housed at an unknown location," he read.

Dean sat back and rubbed his face with his hand. He looked utterly defeated. She longed to tell him that he didn't have to worry about it anymore. That she had taken care of the situation. But she couldn't.

They finished eating in silence and Dean walked outside to work on his car.

Sam doubled up on research, desperate to find any way that they could find Lilith and convince her to let Dean out of his contract. He carefully hid the screen away from Danae and she decided not to push it.

She knew that Dean needed to be alone, so she decided that she would take a drive and get things ready for the days ahead. She was at two days and a handful of hours.

Bobby lent her an old minivan when she asked if she could use it since her own truck was still up on blocks.

The short drive to the old spillway was easy and she remembered back when she used to play up there with the boys.

Before she lost her nerve, she began piling wood up to build her own funeral pyre. She needed the job to be done completely so that if… no when, she knew it was when… Dean and Sam found out what she had done, they couldn't take it back.

She hid the can of gas and the small book of matches in a dry spot and she drove back to Bobby's in silence.

They had a good night considering that Dean was trying to drink himself to death in the front room.

She made her mind up and walked into the room before leaning down and whispering in his ear. He looked up bleary eyed but tried to get it together for her. She took him upstairs and told him to take a shower. She wanted him sober.

The water did the trick and he came out a little while later in his comfortable sweats and no shirt to find her sitting on the bed waiting for him.

She had pulled her hair down from its usual ponytail and allowed it to cascade around her shoulders. She was wearing one of his plaid shirts and had left the top few buttons undone giving the slightest peek at the outline of her breasts.

He came out still drying his hair but stopped in his tracks when he saw her waiting for him.

She beckoned him over with the crook of her finger and guided him to sit between her legs in the middle of the bed.

For once in his life, Dean was struck speechless, but he obeyed and took the place she asked him to.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and began to rub the built-up tension away from his body, earning a low moan from him.

Encouraged, she continued to rub his shoulders, stopping every so often to run her hands down his arms, before she placed her lips at the base of his neck and began delivering kisses causing him to shiver.

Finally, he turned around and started to kiss her back, like they always did but she stopped him.

"Dean?" she said.

He looked up at her, his emerald eyes catching the light from the one lamp in the room.

"Make love to me," she said. He looked at her questioningly. This was not a request that she had ever even hinted at with him.

He licked his lips as he thought of what to say.

"Don't think," she said, "just make love to me,"

He laid her down on the pillows and ran a hand up to her cheek and up into her hair. His head dipped low and he placed a kiss on her forehead before bringing his lips down to take her mouth in his. His tongue traced the edges of her own lips begging entrance and she opened hers to allow him in.

Her arms ran up around his neck as she pulled him closer to her. She felt like the inches between them was really miles.

Emboldened he began to kiss her neck and down to her collarbone. When he came up, he looked her right in the eyes as he slowly unbuttoned his own shirt from her body and laid it open.

He looked down at her, now wearing only a pair of black panties and drew in a breath.

"You're beautiful," he said. She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks and turned her head away.

"Don't look away, look at me," he half commanded her. She turned her head to face him and caught his intense gaze as he slowly began kissing the tops of her breasts.

Her eyes rolled back when he took a hard nipple into his mouth and drew it into a small point. Her breath caught and she let a moan escape.

His left arm supported his body while his right hand grazed the nipple that was being neglected. He touched ever so slightly. This was not just sex or a quick lay, he was making love to this woman. He didn't know how much time he had left to do this.

Her back arched up and she had to take her breaths in shallowly. She had been with other men, but they never really took their time and it was usually over seemingly before it began.

She was not having this problem with Dean. He was focused and his every touch was so gentle and loving that it was causing a dam to break inside of her.

He switched nipples and began his work on the opposite one eliciting more small moans from Danae.

His lips kissed down her stomach and to her thighs. She opened her legs, ready for him but he kept on going down. He kissed all the way down her leg and back up the other one before coming to her center.

He didn't touch his mouth here, though she was practically begging at this point. He breathed out just in front of her most sensitive spot and she shivered violently.

Then lazily, and slowly he darted his tongue out and began to lick her softly. This was enough to send her into louder moans which she tried to stifle with her hands.

"No, baby, I want to hear you," he said, stopping.

"I… don't… want…. To wake them up," she said.

"Don't worry about them, I've got you," he replied as he set back to work.

The louder she got the faster he worked as she set the pace until finally, she was shaking from the exertion.

"That's it, come on darling," he coaxed her until she moaned loudly and bucked up, falling over that golden edge.

He came up to eye level with her before positioning himself correctly and kicking the sweats off of his feet and to the floor.

"Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded her agreement and he began to push inside of her.

He gave them both a minute to adjust before he began to slowly move in and out. He looked her right in the eye or he tried to as his own began to shut in ecstasy.

"Dean, look at me," she repeated his previous request back at him. He looked up and smiled softly.

She lifted her head from the pillow and brought his down to meet her as she kissed him deeply.

He began to move just a little faster and her head started swimming at that familiar tingle came over her.

His low moan was punctuated by small gasps.

"Oh, my God," he said as he sped up. "I'm so… close…" he said.

She put her hands into his hair and brought his mouth down to hers while simultaneously pushing her hips forward allowing him to go deeper than he had been.

He breathed in sharply and moaned out loudly, with no care for anyone's hearing.

All at once, she felt him pause and then hold with a shudder. He collapsed on her and laid his head on her shoulder desperately trying to catch his breath at the same time she did.

He finally glanced up just in time to see a single tear travel down her cheek.

"Why are you crying? He asked.

"Because I'm happy," she replied. "I have wanted that to happen since I was seventeen years old."

"Danae, I had no idea," he said as he began to draw simple patterns into the flesh of her stomach and breasts careful to avoid the most sensitive parts.

"Yeah," she laughed a bit, "you always were the dumbest smart person I have ever known," she said as she leaned down to kiss him again.

They made love several times that night before they finally fell asleep in each other's arms.

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The next day, Danae would leave Bobby's house for the last time. She got up and faked a text and a phone call from another hunter researcher named Gale Huron. She told the guys that there was a restless spirit not two hundred miles up the road and that her friend wanted help.

She hugged Sammy and Bobby and then walked to her now fixed truck with Dean.

He stood in front of her before pulling her into a deep warm hug. He was telling her goodbye because he thought he would never see her again.

She was telling him goodbye because she knew she would never see him again.

She stood up, nearly his height anyway and kissed him with all the passion she could muster. He pushed her back into the side of the truck and reciprocated. Hungry, impassioned hands roamed each other fully clothed, in daylight. They didn't care. They were desperate.

"It's just a milk run, no big deal," she lied smoothly.

"Yeah, I know. I will just miss you until we see each other again," he lied right back to her.

She gave him one last hug before adding, "I love you, Dean Winchester. I always have and I always will."

"I... " he struggled to say the word that tried so hard to stay out of his lexicon. "I love you too, Danae," he said.

She knew that if she didn't leave, that she would never leave. So she climbed into the truck and backed out of the drive.

She sat and looked at the stars as she finished the bottle of Jack Daniels that she had carried in her truck for all these years. It had been given to her by a friend on the day of her father's funeral. She never opened it in all that time.

But tonight, she peeled the label and not bothering with a glass she sipped for a few hours watching the last sunset she would ever see.

It was getting dark and the trees were starting to take eerie shapes as her mind began playing tricks on her.

She made sure that the letters were situated on the front seat of her truck. One for Bobby, one for Sam and the last one for Dean. Lilith said that she couldn't tell Dean beforehand but he would figure it out and she needed him to know that she was sorry.

She pulled the flannel shirt she had stolen from Dean out and put it on, buttoning it to the top and emptied the bottle of sleeping pills into her hand. It was with some difficulty that she swallowed the pills with the last of the whiskey. Then she climbed to the top of the pyre with the book of matches. The smell of fuel making her already sleepy head swim. She laid back and looked at the stars as she threw the lit match into the flames.

Within moments the pyre was encased in flames and she found herself falling into a deep sleep. She was only vaguely aware of a set of arms carrying her away from the wooden structure and setting her down on the soft ground.

She used the last bit of her vision to see the demon from the crossroads clearly.

"Lilith told me to bring you home. She said you shouldn't have to go like that," he said with disgust as he picked her up and with a snap of his fingers they were gone.

The underworld and her new life awaited her.

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A/N: I had this idea that what if someone besides Sam could save Dean? Would it keep Sam from resorting to demon blood? Would it fuel Dean to fight or what would happen to him? This is intended to be a multiple chapter story. My plan is to follow Dane to Hell and find out why she is able to make a cold blooded creature like a demon feel anything. Please review if you like the story and would like me to continue.


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter is from Dean's side of things. Thank you CrimsonBloodWitch for the review. It has been a long time since I have really written any fanfiction but I love this show and these characters. I will try to weave a story you can all enjoy. Note, this is a rendition of the episode in which Dean is taken to Hell. It is not exact.

I do not own the SPN universe or any of the characters. Danae Caraway is all my own.

One of the downsides of looking down the barrel of the Hell gun was that demons lost their Disney quality and their vessels did very little to hide the actual terrifying monsters that they were. Dean found this out the hard way when Ruby joined him and Bobby in front of the family home where Lilith had situated herself while on her downtime.

He turned around to see a female figure next to Sam who seemed completely oblivious.

"What are you looking at?" the creature spat.

He recognized the voice and realized who it was.

"Man, you are one fugly bitch," he hurled at her.

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the house, a little too close to his brother to make him entirely happy.

With his predicament, Dean could see that Lilith had not come alone and that there were several demons stationed around the house blending in with the picturesque cul-de-sac.

"There's at least a dozen out here you guys," he said to the group.

"I got something for 'em," Bobby said as he slipped from his hiding place and as quickly across the road as he could go.

He was gone a few minutes while the others stayed and watched the house.

"It's the little girl," Dean said in disgust. "You should see the kid, it's creepy as hell," he finished.

"Kind of the point, right?" Ruby replied which earned her a go screw yourself look from Dean.

Bobby came back and knelt down beside them.

"Watch this," he told them.

About a minute later the sprinkler system kicked on and all of Lilith's guards began screaming and rolling around the ground.

"You blessed the water system? That's awesome Bobby," Sam said.

"Yeah, unless you're me," Ruby argued.

"Well sorry, princess but I guess you're just gonna have to find a way around em," the cantankerous old man quipped back.

When the demon guards look subdued and/or distracted enough the group headed from their hiding place and into the house. Ruby and Sam went immediately to search for Lilith while Dean found the father and took him to the basement to hide.

"Stay here," Dean began when the man's face twisted into a gruesome visage. He shook his head and looked at his watch. 11:48 p.m. "I'm one of the good guys."

And then he was off in search of his brother. It didn't take long to find him just by listening for the screams of the little girl. Sam had found her in her bedroom and was about to hold his hand up and exorcise the demon from within her when Dean pushed his hand down.

"Stop man!" he exclaimed.

"What the hell, Dean?" Sam questioned.

"It isn't her, she slipped out of the kid," he said. Sam looked at the frightened child now curled up between her nightstand and bed.

"Come on sweetie, we aren't gonna hurt you. We gotta get you to your dad in the basement," Dean said as he picked up the little girl.

"Go find the other family members and meet us downstairs," he told Sammy who immediately obeyed him.

It was 7 minutes to midnight and the family or what was left of them was now safely in the basement. Ruby, Sam, Bobby, and Dean stood in front of the terrified group and waited to see what Lilith would throw at them next.

From somewhere in the night, Dean could hear the baying of a hellhound. His heart started to race and he shook with fear. He had intended on facing the end strong but found that he was just a man.

Seeing the distress on his brother's face, Sam pulled him towards a storage room in the basement and pulled the door shut. It was just the three of them now.

The door started pounding, the hellhounds had found him and were making damn sure that he knew it too.

The snarling, barking and pounding on the door were horrifying and audible only to Dean and Ruby.

Ruby, who had taken a step back and was completely comfortable.

"Tick, tock, tick, tock," the demon began saying in a sing-song voice.

"Shut up bitch!" Dean gasped out.

"You might have called Ruby a bitch but you will mind your tone when you speak with me, you piece of human scum," it answered.

Sam looked at her in surprise.

"No, your little girlfriend is somewhere far, far away from here, Sammy," it said.

"Lilith," Dean replied exhausted and reserved.

"Hi, Dean. Rent's just about due," she said as she wiggled her fingers at him.

"Just do it you bitch, I'm ready," he said as he took a nervous step forward. He looked back at Sam and nodded his head.

That nod had to say everything that Dean had never been able to verbalize to his brother.

 _Sammy, I love you. Sammy be strong. Sammy, I'm proud of you._

The younger brother wiped a tear from his cheek and nodded in return.

The pounding at the door became more pronounced and the hinges were straining with the effort of keeping the wood in place. Dean walked forward as if he could speed things up when with a flick of her blonde head Ruby's vessel, now Lilith telekinetically pinned them both the opposite wall.

They were stuck and the dogs grew louder. And then they heard it, the sound of Dean's alarm clock. It was midnight.

"You ready, Dean?" Lilith said with the sweetest of smiles.

"I was born ready bitch," he answered still frozen to the wall.

They glared at each other and then she snapped her fingers.

"Down boys," she said and with a snap of her fingers, she was gone.

The spell wore off of the boys and they fell to the ground hard.

Dean looked down at the ground and then up at his brother who was now standing and offering his own hand to him.

He took the hand and pulled himself up but the bewilderment was far from gone. No sooner was he up than he is pulled into a rib-crushing hug at the hands of his brother.

Dean gave a half-hearted smile to Sam and then pulled away.

"What the hell?" he asked.

Sam walked over to the door and cracked it, then threw it wide open. There was nothing but stillness until Bobby burst in and looked at Dean in shock. He too had expected to leave with the body of the young hunter.

"Dean!" he exclaimed before stepping in and wrapping his arms around the boy.

"What the hell just happened?" Dean asked again.

"Hey boy, don't look a gift horse in the mouth! Let's get the hell out of here," Bobby said grabbing them by their shoulders and leading them out of the house. *********************************************************************************************************************************************

Dean sat behind the steering wheel of the car like it was the first time. He ran his hands over the upholstery of the seat and the curvature of the dash. He caressed the wheel lovingly.

"I thought I would never drive my baby again," he said to his brother who was brooding in the seat next to him.

Sam did not respond.

"Well, don't feel too good about me being alive there Sammy," Dean snapped.

"I am happy, Dean. I'm thrilled…" he began.

"Yeah, looks like it," he replied.

"I'm thrilled but Dean, Lilith is still out there," he said as he gritted his teeth.

"But we have more time now, Sammy. That's what you said we needed.

"You're right, I know," he said and quit. "If I can get just a little stronger, I know I can take her down."

"How? By guzzling demon blood? No, hell no, Sammy," he said assuming finality.

"I can't understand why you are so against me doing what I need to do to fix things," he said now raising his voice.

"Because they're demons, Sam!" Dean said matching his brother's vocalization.

"They are a means to an end," Sam replied.

Dean thought about speaking again but thought better of it.

"We could end this thing, Dean," Sammy continued almost pleading.

He knew that deep down, it was still his little brother wanting a win, wanting an end to this life.

"Sammy, for right now could we just not fight? Could we just be happy?"

Sammy nodded his head but clenched his jaw making it clear that this was not over.

It was late the next morning when Dean pulled the Impala back into Bobby's yard. He was exhausted but knew that he wouldn't be able to go down for a while.

He looked over at the sleeping form of his kid brother, leaned up against the window, snoring softly. Sammy could never understand the virtue that he saw in him, and just like his father would keep it hard to keep him safe. Sammy was exactly like the father he couldn't co-exist with. They were the same damn person. But in his sleep, he looked like the little boy he had damn near raised.

"Rise and shine, Sammy! We're here!" he said rousing his brother.

They walked up to the house where Bobby was unlocking the door.

"I don't know about you boys but I've had all of today that I can handle. I'm gonna hit the hay," he said pushing open the door.

"Yeah me too, for a while," Sammy said claiming the couch.

Dean wasn't ready to go inside yet. He took advantage of the moment to himself and took off walking. He walked the length of Bobby's property breathing deeply and thinking about all of the anxiety of the past months. Before he knew it, he had sat down on the ground and had his head between his propped up knees.

He would never allow anyone to see him break down like this. His body was wracked with heaving cries and he let the tears flow freely down his face. He should have been dead and he should be grateful, but since when did anything good happen with no strings attached?

He wanted to talk to someone- oddly enough. But he figured that he actually had a new day maybe it was time for a new Dean. His first thought was his brother but Sammy was pissed right now and Bobby was too relieved to have him alive to need to deal with anything. Then he thought about Danae, but she didn't even know about the deal or what had happened. He couldn't help but think that he could trust her to tell her. He could just start at the beginning. He wondered if her job was over. This made him think back to their last conversation, which made him think back to the last night they had been together.

It had never gone that way before. They would sleep or make out a little, but things had never gotten that sexual. And even then, she was so vulnerable that night. It wasn't usual. And when she left for her hunt she told him that she loved him.

He had never lied to her. This was saying a lot as he knew he had no trouble in the women department and had turned the little white lie into an art form. But it was always different with Danae. This time was no exception.

He had said that he loved her. Dean Winchester had let those words slip from his lips. He was perfectly happy just laying in bed with her without any other pretenses. She made him calm, happy. She was the kind of girl that deserves someone to fall in love with her. She deserved for someone to want to settle down with her. He wanted to be that someone, but he knew that he was all wrong for her and was racked with guilt.

But the way she said I love you the other day. It wasn't just a phrase she threw around, it was real. He remembered the look on her face and was overwhelmed with a desire to talk to her.

At first, he was going to leave a text but he found that he really wanted to hear her voice. He dialed the number and waited.

 _If you have this number you know who I am. Leave a message after the tone. [Beep]_

"Danae, it's Dean. I was hoping I could talk to you. I have some big stuff I need to say. Um, I know you're working. Just call me when you get this. Um, bye."

The next few days he got no answer, whenever he called. He asked Bobby and Sam if they had heard from her.

They hunted. They drove. They stayed in motels and talked about Lilith over and over. And once a day, he called her phone but he got voicemail every time.

The boys were in a motel on the outskirts of Memphis getting ready to start the day.

"Hey, Sammy," Dean said as he began lacing his boot, "have you heard…"

"From Danae…" he finished with his toothbrush in his mouth. "No man, she's probably just busy hunting. Since when are you so hung up on her? I thought you guys were casual," Sam said leaning back into the bathroom.

"I don't know, man. I just feel like I've been given a second chance. I mean what if it's okay to, I don't know," he quipped.

"You saying you want to settle down? Thought hunters couldn't do that. It doesn't work, bro," Sammy said sitting on the bed opposite his brother.

"Yeah, I know. But if the other person was a hunter too? Do you think it could work?" Dean asked.

Sam decided that now was not the time to continue the beef with his brother. He softened as he looked at the man who had raised him. He knew that all his brother had ever wanted was a family. He was pulling up on thirty now, and he wanted his brother to be happy. He did deserve it.

"Dean, I think if any hunter was going to make having a family work, it would be you," Sam said.

Dean stood up and put his handgun in the back waistband of his jeans. He tried and failed to hide the slight smile on his face.

"Ok, enough Oprah, let's go," he said as he started out of the room.

A/N: I truly hope that the show doesn't ever try to turn into some romantic comedy but I have seen in more than one episode where both of the boys long for a normal life. There is responsibility and there is desire. Here we are free to explore. Remember reviews are love. Thanks, guys!


	3. Chapter 3

Danae continued to heave, her insides burning, as she was forced to throw up. Her hair was being pulled tightly from behind and with each convulsion of her body, the hand tangled in it pulled tighter.

"Get it all up, bitch," the demon hissed into her ear.

"There's nothing left! Please," she choked. The demon threw her down on the cold floor, her eyes mere inches from the acidic puddle of her own vomit.

"Mazgonan, that's enough," the female voice called from the darkness. "You can go back to your post."

And then there was silence. Danae pulled herself to her knees and wiped her mouth with the back of her arm. She slowly raised her head to look at the unrecognizable but very familiar woman before her.

"I had such great plans for you," Lilith finally spoke. " From the moment when I came to that crossroads, I was impressed. You have some talent, you made me feel for a human. I knew that I could use that skill. The loss of Dean Winchester was nothing compared to what I thought I could do with you. The moment that you made that deal, you became mine. And then you go and pull a stunt like the pills," she said. "Why?"

"If my body was gone and burned, no one could try to get me back. I know my people," she spat as she tried to stand.

She laughed. "No one is coming for you. No one is looking for you. Your precious Winchesters are too consumed looking for me," she said, her lips curling up into an evil grin.

"Good," Danae said with a smile of her own.

"You don't mean that I can read you. But anyways," she said as she walked a circle around her prey.

"Let's get to that eternity, shall we? You are something. I want to use this, so I am going to give you a choice," Lilith said.

"You can come up and be one of us. Immortal, immense power. You will torture souls as they come through. Use that special something you have to really make an impact," she said with her eyes sparkling.

"I'm not torturing anyone," Danae said through gritted teeth.

Lilith smiled. "Or we can just put you up on the rack and see how long it takes to break you. It's like a lottery down here."

"Do what you gotta do," Danae replied defiantly.

The smile never left Lilith's face as she beckoned someone inside the door.

"This is Alistair, he's going to work with you- until you decide to work with me," she said as a lanky man strode through the door.

He was tall and wore a smile. When he spoke, his voice was unexpected. It lilted. Not quite feminine, but definitely not masculine either.

"Oh, we're going to have so much fun together," he trilled as he rubbed the ginger stubble on his chin.

He grabbed her roughly by her shoulder and pulled her to her feet. Once she was vertical, she nearly lost her balance as her hands were suddenly chained together as were her feet.

He crooked his finger and she was compelled to follow him down a dank hallway. There was a smell like wet cardboard and it worsened the further they went. She realized that the smell was actually rot and it burned her nose.

The large black door at the end of the hall was his destination. He stopped and opened the door gesturing for her to shuffle into the room.

It was bare except for the large wooden X standing in the middle of the room. She walked in and stood looking at it and trying to push away the thoughts of what was to come.

Two female demons appeared from the endless darkness. They walked over to Danae with blank expressions.

"I am going to get my toys. Prepare her," he said as he walked out.

They were rough as they removed her shackles. Her clothes were ripped off in shreds and tossed to the floor. They were replaced with plain black articles that covered only the most intimate places and tightly. The pushed her at the X and restrained her at the hands and the feet. Which they pulled apart as far as the could, the muscles in her thighs feeling like they would rip.

Danae felt another board snap up behind her head and could feel the edges of an open leather strap. One of the demons grabbed her long hair in their hand and using a knife she couldn't see began to hack it off close to her head. Newly shorn, they slammed her head down and strapped the leather across her forehead. Finally, the cross was pulled back and suspended somehow above the floor leaving her in a horizontal position several feet off the ground.

The sound of creaky wheels entering the room broke the deafening silence as the two demon girls disappeared, leaving her alone.

"Ah, I see that we are ready to begin," Alistair said rolling in the cart she heard. "I can hear your heart beating. It's like a little bunny rabbit. So fast. Are you scared?"

He walked over to her and leaned his face down inches from hers. His breath smelled sickly sweet, like peppermint.

"You're mine now. I was so looking forward to seeing Dean-o. To have Michael's vessel to play with- the ultimate slap in the face. But you sort of ruined that for me, didn't you? Still, I think we can have some fun. Monitor and adjust as it were," he crooned as he moved a silver knife in front of her face.

She closed her eyes and tensed as he drug the flat side of the knife across her cheek.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, none of that. Open your eyes, now," he said and her eyes snapped open. She was unable to close them again.

"No, you're going to be wide awake, completely alert-for all of it."

She felt the tip of the blade on her collarbone. When he penetrated and pulled it down, opening her flesh for the first time, she took in a breath and fought herself not to make a sound. She could feel her hot blood trickling down following the blade.

"Oh, that hurt, didn't it?" He almost sang. "I always begin by making my mark. Signing my masterpiece," he said as he started the other leg for the letter A.

Her body shook and her eyes began to water, but she didn't make a sound.

"Strong and silent? Not for long. You WILL sing for me, little bird," he said as he viciously crossed his A. The smallest cry escaped her lips.

"That's it sweetheart, music to my ears."

For the next few hours, he sliced her, careful never to cross a line he had already cut open. It wasn't long until she couldn't hold back her screams any longer. Every time she made a sound, Alistair moaned in ecstasy.

When he tired for the day, he stepped back to admire his work.

"Beautiful, just beautiful," looking back at the bloody mess before him.

He stepped back as a flood of water poured down from above her washing off the blood but slamming into a raw body of open wounds causing her to scream louder than she had before.

She shook uncontrollably and cowered away when he crept closer to her and hovered his hand inches above her body. The cuts knit themselves back together leaving the itch of healing skin and the tightness of fresh scars.

"So, we can do this again tomorrow," he began before taking a breath, " or you can say goodbye to this room, this pain, and come to join us. Come to use that gift to help us dole out some righteous punishment."

He moved his face back above her face and looked down expectantly.

"Go to Hell!" she said, hocking a mouthful of saliva and blood at him.

"Already here, darling," he smirked as he wiped the spit from his face. "That's what I hoped you say. See you in a few hours."

Danae was not released but tried to relax into the solitude. She still could not close her eyes and she could not go to sleep. Her body itched and she couldn't alleviate the pain. She stared into the empty darkness alone for how long she had no idea.

The door creaked open and she heard Alistair's cart.

"Good morning, Baltimore!" he sang out. "Everyday's like an open door…"

Danae didn't respond and of course, she couldn't move.

"Sing with me, if you know the words," he waited, "not a Broadway fan, huh? That's alright. How did you sleep? Oh, that's right, you didn't huh?"

"It was great. I feel great," she said in defiance.

With a flick of his wrist, the great X was vertical and Danae was flipped over, still bound, face down, her back was exposed to her tormentor.

"Oooh, all that pretty unmarked skin," he said with glee in his voice.

She could hear him moving around behind her and heard the whip before she felt it. It cut through the air whistling, and she involuntarily tensed up. The whip bit into the center of her back and then caught. She screamed and cried as he roughly and slowly dragged it out of the ditch he had carved.

"Still feeling all that emotion for Lover Boy?" he taunted.

Again and again, the whip shredded into her, crisscrossing over a multitude of lines already laid out. Her back, her legs, her sides, her neck, the backs of her arms. He even managed to whip into the tender skin under her arms.

"There was a girly with a crush, D-E-A-N-O, D-E-A-N-O, D-E-A-N-O…. " he sang as he worked.

She cried and screamed despite her desire to stay silent. Hours went by. She could feel strips of skin hanging down, the air raking across her open skin.

At the end of the day, the water rushed down again and all the wounds closed up.

"How about it, sweetheart? You ready to work for the winning team?" Alistair asked her.

"Go. Fuck. Yourself," she said between pain filled gasps.

"Wunderbar!" he said slamming the door and leaving her alone again.

So it went for years and years. There was no end to Alistair's creativity or his cruelty. Her eyes never shut and she never slept or even passed out.

Danae sat in the corner of the room, crouched in the corner. The collar of steel around her neck and the short chain giving her no room to move. But it was infinitely more comfortable than the X or hanging on the wall. And especially more so than the steel box which filled her with more fear than she thought she could handle.

She heard the cart before she saw the door open. Alistair walked in but this time, this time he was not alone. In the shadows, through her sleep-deprived delirium, she could see the outline of a man.

"It's a beautiful morning," Alistair sang loudly. The figure stayed behind him.

Danae struggled to see who came in with the demon. Her head couldn't turn far enough and peripherally it was still only an outline.

Alistair stalked over, unchained her and brought her to a standing position. He turned her back to the figure and restrained her arms above her head with chains from the ceiling. He locked her feet into the ankle straps at the floor. She didn't try to fight anymore, simply choosing to hang her head. Defeated.

She didn't even look up when she heard the sound of the torch being lit. It didn't matter anymore.

"Ok, there hot stuff," Alistair said as he approached Danae's hanging from. "You see what I did there? Hot stuff? Cause of the flame... "his Cheshire grin met her eyes.

He waited for Danae to smile but finally gave up.

"So I've been thinking. I know the reason that you came down here, it was twue luv," Alistair said. "I have never understood the concept of love, myself. It's fleeting."

She could hear him pick up something metal and then the torch. He walked back in front of her.

"I would never have given myself over for love, but then again, I am no one's little bitch," he crooned now heating the metal rod in his hand in front of her.

She trembled knowing that he meant to burn her with that rod.

"Love makes you weak. It gives someone else control over you. It makes you theirs," he continued.

"So I thought if you want to be Dean Winchester's little bitch… let's make it permanent," he said. He turned the rod around and she realized that it was a brand. In block letters, it read DW and was ringed around the lettering.

When the metal was white with heat, he put down the torch and looked Danae over.

"Where to put this? Hmm," he said circling her. "They usually brand cattle on the buttocks, but I want this more visible. I know…" he said as he came back in front of her. Then he leaned forward, brand in position and viciously placed in against the tender flesh of her right ribs.

She screamed and cried. Her body involuntarily moved, trying to get away from the heat but it was no use. The metal was hot enough to cook her flesh, it would stay until it was forcefully removed.

After several minutes, Alistair finally pulled the brand from her burning skin. It got hung up and he carefully removed the burnt skin flakes so that the brand was not destroyed.

She hung and cried softly. The pull of the burned skin and the unmistakable sizzle of meat permeating the air.

It was then that she heard a voice, one so familiar that it caused her heart to break.

"Danae," the voice spoke in the darkness.

A/N: Thank you to those of you who have been reviewing. My work year has started again but I will update each time that real life allows. Remember reviews are love. M2L


	4. Chapter 4

Bobby sat down in the worn recliner behind his desk. The cup of coffee in his hand was steaming as he made it a whole lot more Irish and flipped on the news.

 _The fire department was called to the scene of an apartment fire overnight. The cause has been identified as an electrical malfunction. There were no casualties and the developer plans to rebuild. The mayor has set up a program to help displaced residents find new homes._

 _In sports, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits and the University of South Dakota Coyotes met each other last night in football action. The Jackrabbits came just shy of winning in overtime with a score of 36-33._

 _Finally, in local news. An abandoned truck found at the old spillway leads authorities on a possible missing person case. The truck was found sitting next to some type of hand-built stick pile. "I took a new route on my morning run and it was just sitting there in the clearing. At first, I was going to ignore it, but it looked like it had been there a while so I called 911." The truck is registered to a Susan Smith of Sioux Falls but no one has come to claim the vehicle leading authorities to believe that the vehicle was stolen or that this may be a missing person's case. If you have any information about the vehicle or a possible driver, please call Sheriff Jody Mills at 605-367-7212._

Bobby had been flipping through a leather-bound journal but his head popped up when he heard the name, Susan Smith. That was the alias that Danae had used when she got the plates for her truck. Sure enough, the image on the screen showed the old Chevy Silverado sitting by the spillway. There was a lot of grass grown up underneath and around it, it had been there for a while. The stick pile was unmistakably a burial pyre for a hunter. He had built enough himself to recognize it.

He stood up and went to change into his Fed suit. Then it was off to the spillway.

His first thought was to contact the boys. Dean had sure as hell called him enough asking whether he had heard from Danae recently, always hearing that no he had not. He decided to hold off on involving Winchesters until he was sure what was going on.

When he arrived at the spillway, there was a single police vehicle. The reporters had long since left and a lone tow truck was backing up to the truck.

He walked up to the cruiser and flashed his badge.

"Randall Walker, South Dakota State Police," he introduced himself.

The local officer glared against the sunlight framing the perceived intruder.

"State police? This seems like a local thing…" he started.

"Look here, Officer… Thomas, I go where I am sent. So what do we know so far?" Bobby questioned the cop and hoping that he wouldn't be recognized.

The officer told him what little they knew and he walked over to the truck to have a look before the tow operator pulled it up onto the trailer.

He looked in the glove compartment which was completely empty except for the user's manual for a 1994 Chevy Silverado. There were no clothes, no pictures. The only thing he found were three yellowed envelopes that had fallen underneath the front seat.

Bobby. Sam. Dean.

"What the hell is going on, Danae?" he asked himself.

"Look, buddy, I need to get this to the impound. I ain't got all day," the towman said and Bobby left the vehicle tucking the envelopes into his jacket pocket.

Bobby drove back to the house, the envelopes feeling like they weighed a ton still sitting in the jacket pocket at his breast. He had an uneasy feeling, wondering what fool thing the girl had gotten herself into and wracking his brain for anything she might have said the last time they spoke to each other.

He couldn't think of anything even as he pulled into the driveway of his home.

After changing into his regular clothes, Bobby sat down heavily on the couch. He put Sam and Dean's letters to the side and slipped his thumb under the flap of his own envelope.

 _Bobby,_

 _I am not sure how long it will be before you get this letter. I did a thing and I know that you are probably going to hate me for it. I am sorry. You have been like a father to me for all of these years. And I appreciate everything you have ever done. When you told me what Dean had done, my heart broke. I know that you think that I shouldn't feel about him like I do, but I can't help it. I love the man._

 _So I went to the crossroads and I made a deal. Lillith gave me three days. When you all left for your job, I left to well… to go to Hell. I know you can see the remains of my pyre. I took care of it. You can't bring me back, and I am begging you: please don't try._

 _Keep them safe, Bobby. He doesn't even know that I know about his deal. Don't let them do anything stupid. I can imagine your face right now as I say that._

 _Thank you for everything. I love you. Love Danae._

Bobby attempted to dry the tears flowing from his eyes with his shirt. It had been a while since he had felt this way. Probably since the day that Dean told him about the deal in the first place. His chest hurt. He took deep heaving breaths trying to steady himself before he was finally calm enough to pull out his phone and dial a familiar number.

"Sam?"

"Yeah, okay, Bobby. I'll tell him," Sam breathed out trying to stay calm on the phone. His brother sat on the bed next to him with a raised eyebrow and a grimace waiting for Sam to spill.

"Dean, I need to tell you something but you have to stay calm," Sam started.

He told Dean everything that Bobby had told him and then that they needed to go to Sioux Falls. Dean paced the room, hands running through his hair in distress.

"So what she's been kidnapped?" he asked.

"I don't know the whole story, Bobby just said that they had found her truck and that we needed to get to his house as fast as possible," Sam said as he picked up his bag and stood.

"Well let's go then," Dean said storming towards the door. He reached for the keys on the small table but Sam beat him to them.

"Yeah, I'm driving," Sam said with a worried look at his brother. And to his surprise, Dean did not put up a fight.

During the trip, Sam glanced over at his brother every few minutes as they traveled in unfamiliar silence. Dean was nervous and seemed to be on a mission to chew down every trace of fingernail he had.

"She's going to be okay, Dean. We will get her back," he tried to reassure the man.

"Yeah. I don't think it's that simple this time Sammy. I got a real bad feeling about what we are about to walk into here," he said, replacing his head on the cold window.

They stopped twice. Once for gas and once to grab food which Dean, uncharacteristically, insisted they eat in the car so they could keep going.

It was the early hours of the morning when they pulled into Bobby's familiar drive. They could see Bobby sitting on the front porch waiting for them. He was visibly drunk and wobbly even in a sitting position.

"Bobby," Sam greeted him as they left the car.

"Boys…" he responded.

He stood and let them come inside the house knowing that delaying the inevitable any longer made no sense.

The boys sat on the couch and Bobby handed them each their letter.

 _Sam,_

 _I can already imagine what you are thinking but I know that had Dean's deal been completed, you would have been the first person standing at the crossroads. Don't deny it. You take care of each other. I need to take care of you too. You have always been like a big brother to me and of the two of you, you know you are the more level-headed. Take care of him, Sammy. Don't let him do anything that could hurt him. I had no choice._

 _I can't come back. I made sure of that, so please don't try. I love you, Sam. Love, Danae._

Sam breathed out but didn't say a word, instead choosing to drink the whiskey Bobby had already poured out for him.

Dean, on the other hand, was reading intently. It was obvious that he read the letter more than once, trying to get some real understanding of it.

 _Dean,_

 _You will probably hate me for this. I am sorry. When I found out what you had done, I had no choice. I have loved you since the first time I laid my eyes on you. As long as I have known you, you have been a hero. It didn't matter what could happen to you, you rushed in to save the day without a thought. Any idiot can see how much you love your brother and how responsible you feel for him. Of course, you had to save Sam._

 _The thing is, I don't think that you think you are worth saving. You are the most loving, selfless, and caring man I have ever met. I found out about you and I wanted you to be saved for once in your life._

 _I know you. You will try to find me, but I am gone. There is nothing left. Please don't try to bring me back. Instead, move on. Do what you do. Hunt things, save people. Find someone to love you, because you deserve it._

 _When I said that I love you, I meant it. I love you. Do this for me. Love, Danae._

Sam reached over to put a hand on his brother's shoulder but Dean ducked away from it and left the house.

A moment later, the sound of the Impala broke the silence. Sam jumped to go after his brother but Bobby reached out to him. His voice slightly slurring.

"Let him go, son," he said.

Danae's POV

"Danae," the voice whispered again. She lifted her tear-streaked face up and looked into the candy green eyes that held her heart.

"You're not real. This is a trick, get away from me," she said before hanging her head again.

"Sweetheart, I'm real. It's me. I want to rescue you," the Dean thing said to her.

"No, no, no…" she whimpered.

Just then she heard the torch come back to life and saw "Dean's" boots back up into the darkness.

"So sweet," Alistair crooned out. "Parting is such sweet sorrow, but we really shouldn't be wasting time. Don't worry- he isn't going anywhere."

The flame inched towards her exposed shoulder blades, the heat filling her with terror. When it finally made contact, she lunged forward harshly attempting to get away but she could not. Her flesh shot open and she screamed out.

Over and over, in a thousand different patterns, Alistair laid the flame into her skin. He flayed her. Whenever she thought there was no more flesh to reach, he found another new patch of skin and pressed the torch to it.

It went on and on. Then came the water, the healing touch, the itch, and the dread. Alistair rolled his cart out of the room leaving only Danae and the intruder in the room.

"Dean" walked over to Danae. He ran his hands over her still wet cheeks.

"Shhh, shhh," he whispered. "It's okay, I'm here," he said as he petted her.

Danae couldn't move. Alistair usually left her alone for a while, but this was a constant onslaught of torture. Dean didn't leave. He stood there softly cooing to her, soothing her, telling her it would all be alright. She couldn't shut her eyes against the torment, she couldn't fall unconscious. There was no relief as the thing laid tiny kisses along her jawline and her neck.

She cried and begged for the thing to go away. It ignored her and continued his work.

He started talking about hunts they had gone on, inside jokes, memories- and finally, he recounted that last night together.

Her heart broke. Alistair had finally broken her. All of these years of pain and torture, all the times she said no and now she was closer than ever to finally saying yes.

"Danae, if you say yes we can be together. I will stay with you for everything. It will be us against the world. No more pain," it whispered in her ear.

She began to live in her hallucination. Maybe this was real. Maybe, even if it wasn't real, it would be okay to let go. She could have this Dean and know that she had saved the real one.

Dean drove up and down the streets of Sioux Falls, carefully avoiding the place where he really wanted to go- the spillway.

But the sun was setting and he knew that if he wanted to fully check out the scene, his headlights would not be enough light. So he turned down the familiar dirt path and drove the few miles down to the clearing and the water.

He parked the Impala and got out. The burial pyre stood untouched but the truck had been moved and the only evidence it was there was the rectangular patch of unchecked grass left behind.

He walked around the pyre and could just barely smell the remnants of a good thorough soaking with gasoline. Near the edge, he found a box of weather soaked and flattened matches and a small gas can wedged underneath. He rolled his eyes and the skill of the local police in gathering evidence.

It was obvious that someone intended on burning a body here but it had never happened or it had been stopped as just the outermost sticks had any char on them.

He found no other evidence that someone had been there. He could feel the tears on his eyes. She sold her fucking soul for him. He wanted to be angry and scream, but hadn't he done the same thing for Sam?

Alone he was able to allow his emotions to come out. He could openly cry.

He found himself on his knees, clutching his chest desperately. One more person for whom he was responsible for was gone. Then he found himself doing something he hadn't done in years.

He clasped his hands together and bowed his head. His green eyes squeezed shut hard and he took in a ragged, tear-laden breath.

"God, I don't even know if you are real- but everything else is so why the Hell wouldn't you be? Look, I don't know what to do here. I need you to help me. I wouldn't ask, you know that. But she doesn't deserve this. Please, give me a sign or something," he begged.

He heard nothing but the rush of water over concrete boundaries and the approaching song of crickets and frogs.

"Damn you, you son-of-a-bitch. What more do we have to give up!? What do you want from us?" he continued.

He stood up and dusted off his jeans, wiping his face with the sleeve of his jacket. He looked up to the star-filled sky and frowned. The noises continued but there was no answer, no mystical sign. He knew that his words had fallen on deaf- or imaginary- ears.

The natural sounds only increased. It became so loud that he didn't hear the almost imperceptible sound of wings

A/N: Hello all. I am sorry it took so long to update. RL has been giving me fits. I hope to add more to this story soon. Thank you to all of my readers and especially to those who reviewed. You guys are my rock stars!


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